


All This Time

by violenceb



Category: Monster Prom (Visual Novel)
Genre: Angst, Coldplay References, Eventual Romance, Fluff, High School, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Journalist!Oz, M/M, Poetry, School Press, Single Parents, Touchy!Scott
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-07 19:16:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14677695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violenceb/pseuds/violenceb
Summary: Oz is a journalist in the Spooky High's Spooky Press with his friend Vicky and a poet on the side. He now must find a good balance between work, school, and his personal life when an oblivious jock comes bounding in with an upbeat attitude and a Frisbee.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> NO COPYRIGHT INTENDED. ALL CREDITS FOR MONSTER PROM AND ITS CHARACTERS GO TO JESSE COX AND HIS FRIENDS. I DO NOT OWN CERTAIN SONGS AND POEMS, MERELY REFERENCING THE WORK OF EXISTING ARTISTS. JUST FOR FUN

               Oz tries to shake off the ink on his hands as he exits the copy room. It should be pretty difficult if it practically matches your skin, he starts to wonder if ink has always gotten on his hands and he just hasn’t paid mind to it. But that can’t be the can’t be the case, he’s been using that damn printer for 3 years. It became more and more dysfunctional as time passed and it has now decided to end its miserable life. On the walk to the club room, he holds the stack of printed papers under his arm while awkwardly holding up his other hand like he caught a rare skin disease. With the ink blending into his skin… it just looks like he’s keeping his hand up for no reason. He sighs at the thought of having to tell his clubmates about gathering a new printer, which wouldn’t be a problem if they weren’t gonna use it for a year more.

 

               Walking through the corridor, he basks in the warm air of summer, thinking about how it’s gonna start to chill once class starts and his final year at Spooky High officially begins. Starting senior year always has that strange aura, a mix between being content with everything and that curiosity about what more you could have done. In Oz’s case, he believes the Spooky Press has provided him with enough distraction to not think about all that. _‘But I still do anyway…’_ He thinks to himself as he passes empty classrooms and nameless lockers.

 

               He’s still not sure if he’s gonna miss this place, school’s just been in the background for him while he’s just been in the background himself at school. It’s a strange kind of mutualism because it keeps him out of the happenings, sure, he misses out on the ‘fun high school memories’ but that also comes with getting a pass at the drama too. He’s got enough on his mind as it is and finds it ridiculous to want to expand that dangerous space in his head. A tinier, blob of darkness sprouts on his shoulder and gives him a reassuring pat on the cheek, he gives it a grateful look since his hands are tied.

 

               Upon arriving at the club room, he immediately heads for the table and places the stack of newspapers onto it. A bluish, stitched-up girl peeks out from the polaroid photos hanging from a clothesline and looks inquisitively at his direction  
  
               “I didn’t want to risk tainting them” Oz raised his hand

 

               “Taint them with what?” Vicky asks, curious

 

               Oz seems a bit disheartened “I-I have ink on my arm”

 

               “Ohhh… Give me a sec” she goes back through the jungle of photos.

 

               The shadowy being sits atop the table with the newly printed articles, using his good hand to look through them. The pages sport headlines like ‘TENTATIVE HONOR ROLL ANOUNCED’, ‘SPORTS GAME MOVED TO MID-SEPTEMBER’, ‘DEMON STUDENT SENT TO JAIL FOR 14TH TIME’, same stuff as always, he then proceeds to check for printing errors. Vicky goes to sit beside him, wiping his arm down with an old shirt in the supply closet.

 

               “Is that good? I can’t tell if it’s still there” She scans Oz’s forearm up and down.

 

               “Me neither” The being of pure fear replies “It’s alright”  
  
               “Are you done writing your poem for your section?” She asks, rolling the now black rag and tossing it over the clotheslines. Oz nods and pulls out a folded piece of paper from his cardigan’s pocket. She unfolds it and reads through it pretty quickly. For the start of the semester’s issue, Oz decided to write about seasons going in a specific cycle and relating it to moving forward to continue life despite the changes. As simple a concept as it is, he’s still pretty proud of it.  
  
               “Wonderful as usual Oz, pretty emotional too!” She says, folding it back up “I’ll give this to Blobert myself” Oz puts on a warm look, one thing he’ll miss for sure are the little interactions like this with his friends. He didn’t mind being a prop in the background when he can enjoy the company of good people.

 

               “Oh by the way” Vicky goes to pull down some of the hanging photos “Are you going to Fright Fest later?”

 

               “Are you?” Oz replies, checking one more time to see if the pages are in order

 

               “Yeah, it’s gonna be my first time seeing Amira and Brian perform”

 

               “That’s Thursday right? And where’s that gonna be?”

 

               “At the park. I think most of the seniors are going there to relax before school starts”

 

               “Wow… Hopefully we can find a spot close enough to the stage”

 

               As great as it is that his friends are getting a good audience, seeing everyone outside school seems less thrilling to Oz. He practically didn’t know anyone else too well, by name maybe, but being invited to parties was a stretch for him. Suddenly, a fearling blob pops up from his shoulder and pats him on the face to snap him out.

               Vicky clasps onto his shoulder. Oz now realizes that she walked over. “It’s just gonna be a fun night with friends Oz, no schemes, no crazy situations, just friendship and music.” Oz knows better, but he smiles genuinely at the mixed creature.

 

               “Thanks Vicky” He replies as she puts the photos into a box along with he pages and heads out the room.

  
  
               “I’ll call you!” An echo comes from the hall as Oz is left sitting on the table staring into his reflection on the classroom door’s window.


	2. Before Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a week before class and Oz meets up with some friends for a night of chill music and unwanted park shenanigans.

Thursday has arrived. Oz has agreed to meet with Vicky at six and has been standing at the mirror since four. It’s now a few minutes til five, he smooths out the sleeves of the gray button up shirt and rolls them up to his elbows reveal the yellow inner side. His fearlings in the meantime get to work on his hair, smoothing it upward to a quiff. He takes one last look at himself and begins to pick up the fresh clothes strewn about in his room. Sitting up on his bed, he starts to wonder if he should start walking now and risk going early or try going a bit later to maybe meet Vicky on time. Then his mind wanders toward whether or not he should be going to the event at all. The thing about being a senior is that every new thing you do becomes your first _and_ last, and because of that, they start becoming obligations, and the line between obligation and duty will start to blur if you’re not careful.  
  
               _It’s fine. It’s for my friends. People from school will be no big deal until class actually starts,_ he thinks to himself like a mental mantra. As much as he’d like to appeal to his comfort, his comfort includes his friends’ comfort too. He covers his hands over his face as two fearlings start patting against it. _This isn’t something to dwell on, you have friends to meet._  
  
               After making out the front door, he locks it behind him and makes sure no one’s around before slipping the onto a curved bar of one of the lamps hanging on the porch beams. His family’s out for his sister’s friend’s birthday party so he has to make sure everything’s enter-proof. He secures the padlock outside their gate and starts walking toward the bus station, his hands deep in his pockets.

              

The street lights go on right as he’s past his block, bathing the trees above them with a warm yellow hue. He looks up briefly to see the sky moving from a light teal to a deep blue. He doesn’t go out too much, but he loves the outdoors at night, he greets the dark sky like an old friend and embraces in the pacifying glow of the white moon like a lover. His thoughts become narrowed and simple in this environment, and he arrives at the station without slouching too much.                    

 

               Vicky waves at him, her lily-patterned shirtdress still showing the blue cropped pants underneath. They get started on discussing the upcoming publication, Vicky specifically referring to the year calendar she illustrated at back, which is both minimalistic and cartoony.  She talks about submitting something for the incoming painting event at the Spooky Forest.

 

               “I have a bunch of ideas already but I’m still weighing on which one I’m the most comfortable with” Vicky has pulled out her journal, showing Oz multiple pages of drafts.  
  
               “I think you have a shot at winning with any of these” Oz says, amazed at her perseverance.

 

               “You know Oz, they do have a poetry segment too” Vicky responds, seemingly paying no mind to the his compliment said, “It could be a nice little project for you to do if… you’re alone” Oz looks at his shoes, his eyes smiling.

 

               His tendency to overthink is no secret to his friends, almost to the point where it’s dangerous to have him alone for hours. At that moment he feels blessed by being given his friends to help him through his first year. The blue girl hands him the flyer for the event, he reads through it.  
  
               “ _Steady Change_ ” He reads the theme of the event loudly. I guess it can’t be helped that themes like these end up everywhere when autumn is coming. “Man, I already wrote about this” Oz chuckles at the coincidence, Vicky laughs along.

 

               “I mean you can always write from a different perspective, right? That’s what you always say when someone’s stuck at an impasse” She says, crossing her legs.

 

               “Yeah, I think I have some ideas, Vicky. Thanks for letting me in on this” Oz actually doesn’t have a plan right now, he’ll think on it later. He folds the flyer into his pocket.

 

               The bus hisses and comes to stop. The two make their way down the station and immediately get view of the park across the road. From where Oz is, he sees some lighting trusses and cables, but not too many people other than maybe three or four picnic blankets.  
  
               “The event starts at 8” Vicky says, tugging at the fear being’s sleeve. “This way we can find a good spot and have a chat with Amira and Brian” She leads him through the black gates and up the small hill toward where the small stage is. It’s just enough space for all the wiring, instruments, and maybe the performers. Behind it is a large purple tarp that says ‘Fright Fest: Open Mic Night’ tied to two trusses. They decide on a spot seven meters from the stage off to the side, Vicky pulls out a white sheet adorned with yellow flowers. Oz assumes that Vicky grabbed the table cloth and folded it into her bag on her way out of the house.

 

               Upon sitting down, Oz looks around and sees stagehands hanging fairy lights up the branches of the surrounding trees and food carts opening up and cooking some food ahead of time. It’s nothing flashy but it’s enough to be considered ‘decorated’. Oz currently has an eye on a hot chocolate cart that looks like it gives carrying toppings too, and then realizes that he’s had his hands crossed over his torso, it’s starting to get cold.

 

               “Have you heard them play before?” Vicky turns to the shadowy boy as she cross-sits, looking unbothered by the cooling atmosphere. Oz nods, from what he can recall the two called themselves ‘Player Character’ and played some math and post-rock. He’s not very knowledgeable at the differences of the two but enjoys how relaxing their sound is.

 

               “I actually listen to them while I study” Oz responds shyly, as if he’s letting her on a big secret. He’s concerned that Vicky might think he’s just humoring her.

 

               “Hey, me too! Well sort of… I listen to them when I’m painting abstract. Their music really helps bring to mind colorful patterns” She swirls at the air with her fingers. Oz always thought Vicky has this weird thing about connecting everything to colors, even people. She sometimes keeps accidentally calling everyone with what she associates them with, he’s called Amira ‘Red’, Brian ‘Green’, and Oz himself, ‘Yellow’. Baffled the first time he heard that, he asks Vicky about why he’s associated with such a bright and happy color, she laughed at him and told him that she doesn’t see him as dark or gloomy either. She said it was a sun-kind of yellow, a warm and patient yellow that’s shining in the sky. Oz finds it hard to forget about that, since it gave him a fuzzy feeling.

 

               “Music and painting have always seemed like they have a lot in common” Oz speaks straight from his thoughts “They both have patterns and feelings that can either be intended by the maker or by you while appreciating them. Like every time I hear rock I imagine blasts of spray paint, when I hear jazz I think of smooth swirls and floating droplets…” He stops when he realizes he’s rambling and starts feeling timid.

 

               “I… Sorry that was a bit unneeded” Oz says to Vicky while trying to bury himself in his collar. Vicky shakes her head furiously

              

               “No! that’s was very insightful and interesting, you really are the poetic one Oz” she laughs between her words. “I like it when your mind trails toward creative stuff like that”

 

               _Thank god for Vicky and her boundless kindness_

 

               As Oz starts feeling flattered, sees a tan girl with blazing hair in a red blouse and black pants accompanied by a tall greenish boy wearing a black hoodie and jeans making their way toward their spot.  


               Vicky turns and smiles.  “Amira! Brian! I’m glad you found us”

 

               Oz looks around to see there are still five picnic blankets, including theirs.

 

               “And I’m glad you guys can make it, still got room for two on that table cloth?” Amira asks. Oz and Vicky scoot toward the edges of the cloth and the four face each other in the middle.

 

               “It’s great to see you here Oz” Brian states in a low tone.  


               “Same with you. I’m glad I get to see you guys live. Though I’m curious to see how you’ll be replicating the sound you have from your recordings” the shadowy boy looks on with curiosity.

 

               “I’d hate to disappoint you dude, but we might not sound exactly the same live” Amira states, looking surprised by the notion.

 

               Oz nods understandingly, and maybe a tad bit embarrassed “I’ll still enjoy your performance regardless”

 

               “How’s the publication going for you two?” Amira rests her head on her hand looking like she’s been doing work for the hours before now. Vicky pulls out a prototype of the magazine from her book bag and hands it to Amira and Brian. They seem to enjoy reading for a while, but after a solid two minutes Amira sighs and holds the magazine down for a moment.  
  
                “Is… Is there something you don’t like from the magazine?” Oz’s concern shows in his eyes. They’ve already printed out the batch for the semester, but he can’t help but touch on possible peeves from the readers.

 

               Amira closes the magazine and sets it down in the middle of the blanket “No, no, you guys did a great job. It’s just man, everything is so weird…” That doesn’t give much to discuss, the zombie furrows his eyebrows at her while Vick and Oz share a confused look.

 

               “What do you mean?” Oz asks insistently. Amira looks like she’s trying to find the right words.

 

               “You know… high school’s almost over” It almost felt like Amira was vomiting the words out as she said that “We’re gonna look at colleges and some will apply for jobs, and to think that time would fly so fast when we’ve just been chilling these four years you know? It’s weird!”

 

               Everyone nods in varying degrees. They stay quiet for a bit and start fidgeting with their clothes and looking around.

 

               “The event hasn’t even started yet and there’s already a dark cloud over our heads. Thanks Amira” Brian deadpans, looking admittedly saddened by the candor.

 

               “What?! I’m just saying that it’s been a memorable high school and stuff!” Amira starts gesturing wildly in the air, then slumping her hands down in defeat “I’ll miss all this” Her hair wisps around lazily.

 

               The air grows thicker and more silent. Vicky decides to break it in her special way; She slowly reaches for the bolt in her neck and twists it, she brings her finger up toward a sullen Brian and...

 

               “Ow! Hey!” Brian jumps a foot backward as a visible ray of electricity shoots toward his neck. He’s almost fallen backward, clutching the spot where it shot. Everyone shares a laugh and picks up the conversation about summer. It’s only been this recent break where they decided to not go anywhere together to focus on preparing for senior year. Usually they’d either go to the beach, go camping, have sleepovers, and once they feel like they’ve done everything they decided to try maybe just resting on their own times.

 

               They all agreed to go somewhere fun for the winter break, maybe even just outright making snow forts and throwing snowballs at each other again, even Amira was up for it. The cold air of the night ignited a new flame for them to share, in that moment of reminiscing and planning, they’ve retrieved the youthful wonder from when they were little kids.

 

               After an hour of catching up, a stage hand approaches Amira and Brian with a clipboard and they had to leave Vicky and Oz as they go on to prep. By the time the event has started there were about 25 blankets set up around them and surprisingly found only a few familiar faces.

 

               Liam approaches the press members’ blanket and tells them that he has a column for the magazine, to which both of them reply that the magazine has already been published, he quickly explains that his intention was to have it outside the magazine in the first place to disrupt the status quo or something. The ‘column’ was just a picture of a brown leaf on a plate so they went along with it to satisfy the vampire.

 

               After some bands came and went, it was time for Player Character to perform. For the majority of the performance, Oz has had his eyes closed to imagine the patterns the song put to mind, seeing a swirling dance of pink, orange, and blue swim into his thoughts. Everyone else in the audience seem to at least attentively appreciate the mellow tunes and they got a decent applause by the end of it. Vicky goes to chat with the two in the band while Oz excuses himself to head toward the hot chocolate cart.

 

               While waiting a minute in line he gets a text from his mother.

 

               ‘Hello sweetheart. I’m afraid to say that the car busted a tire and your sister and I might have to stay over at her friends’ house. Don’t worry! They don’t mind us being there until a mechanic comes by tomorrow morning. I’m sorry to leave you alone in the house tonight but I’ll understand if you decide to stay at a friends place.’

 

                Oz starts feeling glad he went for the smore’s hot chocolate and has the heated sweetness push down his inhibitions into his stomach, sending back warm shiver up his spine like a telegraph of comfort. He eats the wet graham crackers, downs the marshmallows and tosses the paper cup into the bin, texting Vicky before heading toward the other edge of the park past the fairy lights.

 

               He moves through the undecorated part of the forest into a circular clearing where the fountain is, he takes a seat at the bench and looks up at his beloved night sky once more. Due to the light pollution from the event, there aren’t as much stars. The moon however, still looks regal with its crescent shape and cloudy accents. Oz decides to lie down the bench to see it better, legs up the arm rest and hands clasped over his stomach. His view is now a perfect scene of the glowing moon, with the navy backdrop speckled with some twinkles. His mind eases and closes his eyes once more to listen in on the distant music, basking in this moment of peace.

 

               Just kidding, what peace?

 

               He opens his eyes to see a large shadow looming over him. Oz manages to somehow choke on his own attempt at screaming and ends up coughing as he sits up on the bench with his legs tucked into his arms. The figure raises two hands defensively, like it’s calming a wild animal.

 

               “Woah! Relax buddy! I’m good!” The figure says, sounding baritone. The shape moves closer, now being slightly illuminated by a nearby lamp post. Oz can start making out the figure from there, the first thing that catches his attention is the stranger’s eyes being a unique shade of blue. It’s the kind of blur you see in sapphire jewelry or waterpark souvenirs.

 

               ‘ _…and those hands are huge_ ’ Oz practically mutters out his thoughts in fear.

 

                The figure looks at its hands “Yeah they are! Thank you for noticing!”

 

               _If that sentence came from anyone but this guy, it would be sarcasm_.

 

               Finally moving into proper lighting, Oz sees how hairy this monster is, specifically around the face and on the forearms. The stranger looks at Oz with a friendly smile, revealing jagged teeth. After spotting the pointy ears, Oz reaches a conclusion, this guy is a werewolf, a werewolf in a red plaid shirt tucked into jeans and looking attentively at him like he’s gonna throw him a bone.

 

               “I can’t help but see you’re alone in this dark park and I wanted to keep you company, my grandma told me that people shouldn’t be all by themselves at night.” The werewolf says, Oz is still hugging the backrest of the bench as he bounds closer. That definitely doesn’t calm him down, but at the very least that explains it. His footing slips and he ends up tumbling backwards and hitting his head against the arm rest.

 

               The hairy man laughs, and Oz has never heard laughter so smooth and natural before, he can already tell this guy is generally in a happy disposition. Oz cautiously puts his legs down and rests against the bench properly, finding it imperative to keep his eyes on this stranger at all costs.

 

               The guy’s large hand comes down flat on his head and Oz winces, not knowing what this strange wolf man is doing. The guy’s palm can practically cover up his entire scalp. The stranger kneels down to be at level with his line of sight. Luckily for Oz, he stopped trembling when his confusion took over his fear. The werewolf looks him right in the eye, everything goes quiet for a bit.

 

               “Is your head okay?” the werewolf ‘s energetic smile melts down to one of concern. If Oz’s head wasn’t held in place by a werewolf hand, he would have turned away right now. Instead Oz is forced to face him head-on feeling flushed. He gathers his focus and reaches toward the guys wrist and sets the hand down.  
  
               “I’m… I’m alright” Oz says, a bit shaky on the delivery. The werewolf stands back up then extends the same hand toward him.  
  
               “Hi! I’m Scott”  


               Oz shakes the hand and feels the warmth and strength of his grip. He closes his own hands together and ponders if he should give him his actual name.

 

               “I-I’m Oz” That decision has already been made involuntarily apparently. Oz grabs the sleeve of his other arm and plays with the folded cloth, looking as nebbish as he’s ever been around other monsters. Whatever this stranger wants, he feels he has no choice but to comply after realizing how large this man is. He looks behind the guy to check if he has henchmen or a parade of were-squirrels following behind, but only sees his tail wag.

 

               “Are you looking at the moon and stars?” Scott asks excitedly. Oz nods.

 

               “Do you mind if I join you?” Scott follows up. Oz nods.

 

               “Hooray! Can I... sit next to you” Scott points to the space next to Oz. Oz nods.

 

               The werewolf pushes Oz to the side effortlessly with one hand and plops onto the bench next to him. He starts staring at the sky while Oz is still perturbed by the entire ordeal. The werewolf’s tail taps against the wood like a makeshift metronome as his head darts around the dark sky like he’s looking for alien life. Suddenly he turns to see Oz still looking anxious toward him and his smile fades. Oz believes this is the part where his organs get torn open and eaten.

 

               “Hey bro relax! Like I said, I’m a good boy! You don’t think I’m gonna hurt you, do you?” The guy actually looks saddened by the shadow boy’s fear. Oz starts to feel guilty for his natural and appropriate reaction to the werewolf’s sudden, unwarranted arrival.

 

               “I’m sorry… This is… new” Oz tries his best to look interested and not scared. He’s failing at both.

 

               Somehow his peaceful walk has led him to be approached by a total stranger twice his size that likes to stargaze. He wonders when life will eventually feel sorry for him and have a bed fall out of the sky for him to crawl into. The werewolf laughs again.

 

               “It’s okay bro. Can I show you my favorite stars?” You hear the tapping go faster and his blue eyes glistening with excitement. Oz transfers all the energy in his body to his mouth and vocal chords.

 

               “S-sure thing…” He whispers loudly. The werewolf’s head darts around again, he twists and turns to scan the sky.

              

               “Over there!” his large arm points behind Oz “You see those three stars over there? That’s the big stick! It reminds me about how much I like it when someone throws a stick” Oz actually does find purchase on three bright stars lined up perfectly, then makes out what Scott points out are the body and legs.

 

Oz has limited knowledge on constellations from the last time he went stargazing with the gang, but he’s pretty sure Scott’s pointing at Orion.

 

               “Then the one over here is the Victory constellation” Scott points over at the area in the sky right in front of where the bench is facing “You can see it pretty easy because it’s shaped like a ‘V’ You know? For Victory!”

 

               This one takes a while for Oz to see but once he sees the two horns everything else came as easy, cause that’s supposed to be Taurus. He realizes this guy must be making the names up but he seems too happy about it to start correcting him.

 

               “Oh! Oh!” Scott turns around and jumps onto his knees then puts his forearms on the back-rest of the bench, Oz turns in place so his legs go through the gap where the seat and the back-rest meet.

 

               “That’s Laelaps! You can also call it the corn’s margin like my grandma. I’m sure you couldn’t guess, but it’s my favorite of all the constellations!”

 

               It’s Canis Major, but at least he got its common name right. And Oz can pretty much guess that it would Scott’s favorite constellation

 

               “Laelaps is a super-fast dog, bro! Grandma told me that they’re so fast, that they ended up flying into the sky and turning into stars! I don’t know if being a constellation hurts but it sounds really cool, that’s why I keep on training to be super starry fast someday!” Scott looks back at the shadow being, tail wagging and expecting for a response.

 

               “You… want to run so fast that you become a constellation…?” Oz’s genuine, unbridled curiosity speaks for him upon hearing that.

 

               “Yeah! Imagine seeing a beefy werewolf constellation in the sky bro! That would be really cool!”

 

               _Well, that settles it, this guy is pretty stupid, but I guess that’s part of his charm._

With everything happening, he only now realizes that his phone has been vibrating like crazy. He checks to find a bunch of miscalls and texts from Vicky, Brian, and Amira, sounding incredibly worried. Oz, turns to the werewolf beside him, wagging his tail and looking at him with a wide grin.

 

               “Oh! Look… it’s… it’s already 9, I need to uh… go back to… you see I have a…mmm… I need to go” Scott’s tail slows down and looks like he’s genuinely trying to hide his disappointment.

 

               _Put those sad puppy eyes somewhere else. This is not fair. I have just met you._

“Oh… okay. Are you sure you’ll be safe from here?” Scott moves his feet down to the ground.  
  
               “Yes… I am… thanks for keeping me company” Oz purposely slows down his intonation to not make it obvious that he’s just trying to get rid of him. The wolf man gets back up and helps the bewildered shadow being up.

 

               “No problem bro! I need to go home too, I told my grandma I’ll be back before ten” The guy actually looks embarrassed. “So I’ll see you around? You haven’t told me _your_ favorite stars”

 

               Oz disguises his sigh as a deep breath “Yeah. Next time… Okay?”

 

               “Okay… Take care bro!” The werewolf closes off with a wink. He turns around and starts jogging toward the south exit.

 

               _Not coming back to this park anytime soon._

 

               Oz gets up and heads off in the opposite direction, thinking it’s better to explain this in person. With a few calls and messages, all four of them slept at Oz’s living room as he desperately tries to retell the moment a werewolf approached him in a dark place and asked to stargaze.


	3. Inhibition Slip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first day of senior year isn't exactly above testing Oz's limit.

 

               Oz stops right as he goes past the club room’s door frame and reflects. Blobert and Vicky stare at the back of his head, holding the door open. He’s holding some photo paper in one hand and was about to head to the printing room until he thought more about what he was doing.

 

               “You feelin’ alright, Oz?” Blobert says speaking from his throat.

 

               Oz doesn’t respond.

 

               _Ahh._ He turns around and walks back toward them holding out the photo paper with a defeated expression.

 

               “I forgot” Oz softly relays

 

               “You forgot?” Vicky asks

 

               “…the printer’s broken”

 

               “Ah… What?’

 

               “The printer in the fax room, I forgot to mention it’s broken”

 

               Blobert and Vicky share a look. Vicky takes the photo paper from Oz, looking like he’d be screaming if he reveals his hidden mouth.

 

               “Wowie Oz” Blobert exhales “I thought it was something terribly serious”

 

               “This _is_ terribly serious Blobert, we can’t print greeting cards without a printer” Oz says, his face unchanging.

 

               “I mean that’s pretty bad, but I thought you popped a nerve or somethin’” Blobert looks down to think. Oz sits on a stool and scratches his head

 

               “I have a printer at home” Vicky chimes in unceremoniously, placing a hand on Oz’s shoulder

 

               “… _what?_ ”  

              

               “I have a printer at home, and I can bring it here”

 

               “Are you sure? What about homework?”

 

               “I’ll come to school earlier to have it printed. I’ll leave it here so that we can go on with the quota” Vicky pairs a smile with her insistence.

 

               Oz relaxes as Vicky nods toward him. “Speaking of which, I’ll bring the photo paper home with me so I can just print them out before bringing the printer with me to school. It’s no big deal.” She disappears into the supply cabinet.

 

               “Wowie Vicky, that’s really nice of you, and thank you for tellin’ me Oz, I’ll start lookin’ into some secondhand ones for the followin’ batch” Blobert reassures. Oz sighs and sits on a stool, scratching his hair. A fearling pops up and pats his cheek, but he pays no mind to it.

 

               “Having a bad day, Oz?” Blobert pulls up a stool next to Oz and absorbs it into his matter, he then pushes the stool out downward to elevate himself.

 

               “I hate school” Oz essentially spits out. He starts pressing his fingers onto his forehead as if it will pop like bubble wrap. “I was so not ready for vacation to end, I mean I did a lot of the work beforehand to get a head start, but I already feel buried on the first day. Roll call was awful, my voice cracked and I started stuttering when I was trying to correct it. Polly **laughed** at me!”

 

               “Polly laughs at everythin’ Oz, not to mention that exactly the fact that you’ve been doing school work before school even started could have worn you out prematurely” Blobert pats his back with a stretched line of goo. Oz looks over to his fearling, it nods at him contentedly then sinks back into his shoulder.

 

               “Am I working too hard?” Oz turns to look at Blobert with an exaggerated pout but only with his eyes.

 

               Blobert makes a telling smirk “I thought you’d never realize”. He falls face-first onto the floor with a splat and rolls forward to become right-side-up again. Oz is too preoccupied with what Blobert meant to take mind of the slurping sound he made while he was reforming off the floor.

 

               “And that’s why I’m gonna cover your work for this month’s issue. It’ll be no problem!” Blobert says before sliding away. Oz cuts him off at the door looking surprised and betrayed.

 

               “Blobert I can’t just do nothing! I enjoy working for the paper”

 

               “It burns you out but you enjoy it? Sounds like it’s turnin’ into a vice, Oz…”

 

               The shadow boy goes wide-eyed, he doesn’t know how to react to that. He doesn’t even understand the logic, but it makes sense to him somehow.

 

               “But I guess I have to give you some kind of work or else the club adviser will get suspicious…” Blobert pats his shapeless hand on his formless chin, which essentially just looks like he’s not doing anything.

              

               “Oh! Why don’t you help Vicky out with the photography? I’m sure she’ll be delighted to have someone helpin’ her out. Then after you guys are done with the pictures, you can come back and help me out with the feature” Oz remembers that Blobert has the thinking process of a canning factory. Vicky steps out of the supply closet with a box filled with batteries.

 

               “Vicky!” Blobert slides over to her “I hope you don’t mind if Oz here is gonna help you out with the photos. He’s getting overworked and was thinkin’ you’d take him under your wing in the meantime”

 

               Vicky knowingly nods “Of course! It will be fun! Hold on let me just…” She places the box on the table and goes through it. After a considerable amount o time, she pulls out a small functional toy camera. She pulls out a small sun keychain and attaches it to its corner hoop. She hands it to Oz looking optimistic.

 

               “It’s relatively simple to work and the film’s cheap too; It’s yours in the meantime!” Vicky watches as the shadowy boy fiddles with the camera, turning it over and moving it between both his hands. He looks through it to see Vicky still smiling at him

 

               “It should suit all your needs at the moment. I mean it’s supposed to be for artsy photos, but I’ll try to have my dad work on it, so it takes normal shots” the bluish girl says, seen through the viewfinder. Oz does start noticing that the view has soft edges, now pointing the camera at the peach slime creature.

 

               “Looks like everythin’s in order then. Anyway, I’m gonna go get a sandwich guys; I’m starvin’” Blobert says. The shadow boy moves out of the way as he slides out the room. Oz hands the camera back to Vicky and she puts in in her bag to bring it home, he starts scratching the back of his neck, looking unsure.

 

               “I’m n-not very good at photography Vicky so, j-just bear with me”

 

               “You’ll be fine, the moment you know how to steady your hand and press the shutter button, you’ll be good to go” Vicky gives a thumbs-up. A fearling pops up on Oz’s shoulder and also gives him a thumbs-up.  
  
               Oz sighs and gives them both a thumbs-up.

 

               Having an hour left for lunch, Vicky and Oz separate with the boy telling her that he needs to go somewhere with fresh air. He walks around the east side of the school grounds and sits on the edge of a decorative plantation at the corner of the building. His view is pretty much just a bunch of grass and the bathrooms but he’s alone, so it works out for him. He pulls out his steak sandwich but spends some time staring at the grass, his elbow on his knee propping up his head.

 

               The first day so far and he’s already tired, his load for the Spooky Press might have lessened but he still worries at the idea of keeping up. He understands that the anxiety of having new classmates will lessen over the semester, but he still can’t get his mind off making a fool of himself. The last thing he wants to happen is being known as the guy whose voice cracks every five minutes, he expects people to bring it up every time they have to assemble for a group project or when he needs to borrow stuff from them. He knows he sounds really silly and dramatic right now, but the thoughts linger, and he realizes he has to force himself to take a bite out of this sandwich if he doesn’t want to go hungry. Oz is holding his lunch with both hands and staring it down like it’s a misbehaving pet, when suddenly, something tugs at the hood of his black coat and he turns around to see…

 

               _Oh no._  
  
               It’s the strange werewolf from that night in the park, now wearing a Spooky High letterman over a form-fit shirt. Right when Oz felt like he has summarized all his worries, this guy decides to line up for auditions. Not that he’s a bad person, he doesn’t even know him that well, but he cannot for the life of him keep up with this guy’s energy. Speaking of which, Oz’s energy right now is too low for his face to properly react to this contrived coincidence. Scott just stands there clasping his hands and hunched over, looking at his… sandwich?

 

               “Hey. So, I can’t help but smell your delicious sandwich and I’m really hungry from training so…” At this point Scott has met his unamused gaze and starts getting excited. Oz is very tempted to roll his eyes but that’s Liam’s thing.

 

               “BROO! WHAT A COINCIDENCE SEEING YOU HERE! I DIDN’T KNOW YOU WENT TO THIS SCHOOL” He beams at the manifestation of fear. Oz waves with a hand, Scott hi-fives it which leaves the shadow boy confused.

 

               “I’m so happy I know you bro! Because I don’t have to beg too much since you already know how much of a good boy I am!” Oz, in his mental exhaustion, still admits that this is pretty adorable. The werewolf must have noticed that Oz hasn’t said anything since he calms down for a bit.

 

               “I mean… if you don’t mind. But I really, really, **really** love steak but grandma has been buying pork so much lately so I don’t get to eat it as much. But I know you’re very nice and…” Scott rambles on, Oz is starting to space out.

 

               _I don’t have the patience to deal with you right now. Sorry._

Oz suddenly stands up which confuses Scott a bit, then starts waving the sandwich in front of the wolf man’s face. Scott’s tail starts to wag quickly and begins readying his feet for a sprint, eyes still on the meaty prize. Oz rears back and throws the sandwich as far as he can, making it scatter mid air and practically separating into its core ingredients. Scott immediately dashes away at an incredible speed toward the general trajectory of the bread, meat, and lettuce.

 

               Oz feels bad at taking advantage of the guy’s innate instincts, but he’d rather do so than have any more awkward conversations for the day. He grabs his satchel and makes a beeline back into the school to maybe look for Vicky in the cafeteria, guess he’s buying something after all. But right as he’s a few steps away from the door, Scott tackles him to the ground and pins him there, licking his face.

 

               Oz’s indifference quickly fades and starts breathing heavily. He squirms and twists but to no avail, the werewolf being preoccupied in his show of affection to take notice of the reaction. After a short while, the shadow boy manages to pull a hand free.

 

               “GET OFF! GET OFF! BAD BOY!” He yells, pushing Scott’s head away so hard it becomes more of an open-handed punch. Scott lets out a small whimper as he gets up and looks strangely at Oz, who’s still on the ground panting heavily with a menacing look on his face. Oz’s face flushes with heat and suddenly turns away, ungracefully getting back up, wiping his face with his coat sleeve as well. He just stands there, trying to slow down his breathing. Scott watches all this, grabbing his elbow.

                

                “I’m… bad…?” Scott asks becoming incredibly downcast. Oz, still not turning to look at him, shakes his head wildly.

 

               “No… I’m sorry I didn’t mean that. I have to go, hope you liked the sandwich.” That sounded more sardonic than Oz would have liked, but he’s made too much of a scene to continue the conversation and makes a beeline to the building, not looking back.

 

               Scott plops onto the grass and stares at the door swinging back and forth until it comes to a stop.

 

               By the time classes resumed, Oz at the very least isn’t thinking about school anymore, his mind replaying what had happened outside. He almost feels nauseous imagining how the poor guy felt, his guilt giving him a very hard time listening in class properly. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he convinces himself not to get too worked up on someone he met twice.

 

               _He jumped on you without warning! Your reaction should be expected!_ He mentally reminds himself.

But his logic also reminded him that the guy was just playing and is now probably confused. _He_ made him confused. Oz didn’t notice that he was tapping his pen onto the desk until a fearling appeared and started patting at his face, gesturing him to look at Ms. Feratu who was sneering at him. He quickly apologized, sinking into his seat and doing a better job at focusing for the rest of the period.

 

               The final bell has rung, and Oz goes straight to the buses. He sends a text message to Vicky telling her that he’s not feeling too well today and asks to start his first day as a photographer tomorrow. On the bus he thinks about Scott again, but this time with less guilt and more sadness. He realizes that he does find the guy adorable in his ignorance and stupidity, and he can’t blame someone for being oblivious to certain things without trying to reason with them first. He consoles himself by remembering Scott’s enthusiasm in the park before the year had started.

 

               He arrives at his brick home right as the night goes toward an orange hue and unlocks his way into the house. He comes in and sees the tall shadowy woman on the sofa, dressed in decent civilian with her hair flowing down to her neck. She looks at him surprised, turning off the TV, getting off the sofa and moving toward him

              

               “Sweetheart? I was just about to leave to pick you and Odelia up from school!” She embraces him.

 

               “I… wasn’t feeling too good. C-can I talk to you about something later? When you come back?”

 

               “Of course, of course. Did something bad happen to you?” His mother’s hands still clasping the sides of his arms.

 

               “Actually, I m-may be at fault” Oz admits shyly “But if you’re going to go pick up Odelia first I was thinking I’d go for a bit of a walk too.” His mom gives him a curious look but nods. She gathers her stuff and reminds Oz to lock the doors when he leaves. After watching the car pull out the drive way, he walks upstairs to change, trying to reserve his thoughts til’ he makes it outside.

 

               He only makes it to the front porch and dances between grabbing on to the black grill railing, walking along the wooden floor, and sitting on the wagon-style bench. He’s supposed to be reminiscing about what had happened and how to tell the story but also somehow battles against the thoughts through his guilt. He finally decides on staying on the bench, cross-seated and staring at the now darkening sky. He wonders why none of his other neighbors come out of their houses to relax considering almost everyone has porches, looking up at the now appearing stars.

 

               _And the award for the worst possible first day, goes to Osric Blaine, for his wonderful social skills and exemplary regard for his classmates feelings! Let’s all get up at throw food at him!_

He’s convinced he’s going nuts and decides to take a full break from the issue and just keep staring at the navy blanket over the world. The sky is noticeably brighter today, like it’s still dark but you can distinguish the shade of blue it’s in. He watches the stars speckling the sky and the moon waxing with it’s bright white light, Oz now realizing that the moon is to thank for the overall lighter vibe. His thoughts once again slow, becoming organized, with the boundless night sky acting like a celestial therapist assuring him that things will come back together. He grabs the small notebook and pen sitting on the window he’s stashed just in case an idea comes to mind while he’s out and writes away his fears and doubts.

 

 

The lady in white

 

Floating above the torment

Her children at her side

That place of peace and stillness

Lives the lady in white

 

Her face set toward the world

Her hair covers the sky

Her light is cherished by all

Her love is a lullaby

 

In need to find my purpose

I left to search and forage

It’s a simple price to pay

For the loving lady’s voyage

 

I reel at the heat of her youth

I quake at the sight of her eyes

I weep through my returning wounds

And kneel before her guise

 

I feverishly bow and pray

I spit out my woes and my pain

I beg at the tip of her nose

To free me from this ball and chain

 

She takes me into her palms

I shiver, awaiting my prize

In a deep and resolute tone

 

“What creature are you?”

 

 

               Oz exhales contentedly after writing that last line, feeling much more at ease than when he arrived at home. It may not have been too complicated a read, but it helps clear his heaviness. He looks over his work right as he gets view of yellow lights going into the garage. After getting out of the car, his mother has seemed to forget about what Oz had said earlier, and he ultimately decides to not bring it up.

 

               The next morning, Tuesday, Oz is in a more relaxed mood, telling himself that he’s gonna apologize to Scott when he runs into him. He gets through school, submitting any early assignments and actually listening attentively in class. After the last period before lunch, he looks in his bag to check on the extra steak sandwich he brought as an apology gift then starts heading for the exit. He starts thinking about heading outside again at the off chance of finding him, or maybe going straight to the football field for a sure chance.

 

               As Oz weighs his options a sudden chill creeps up his spine. He freezes, looking down and spotting a wispy blue mass coming out of his chest. He wonders if this is what it’s like to have your soul ripping out of your body and looks around desperately for the Coven before realizing that it’s a ghost passing through him. The ghost turns around, revealing the sunglasses in her hair, her white tank top that reveals part of her black bra, and some denim shorts. Oz’s eyes light up once she recognizes her.

 

               “Hiiiiii” Polly says floating in front of him. He blinks twice and corrects his posture, managing a small wave.

 

               “H-Hello…” He does everything in his power to not choke. Polly Geist is very popular in school for both her fun aura and dangerous antics. Her liveliness makes her well-known for her knack at throwing amazing parties. He wonders about what he had done to warrant her attention and is starting to falter.

 

               “So like, you’re Oz right?” She casually states as if she didn’t just phase through the person she was talking to.

 

               “Yeah…?”

 

               “Awesome. So you know Scott? He says you kind of called him a ‘ _bad boy_ ’” She does air quotation marks at that last line. The way she says is makes it more sexual than it sounds but that wasn’t the point.

 

               Oz mentally winces at the mention of his name. _Of course he’s with the popular kids, have you seen him Oz? That cuteness can’t possibly go unpraised._ he mentally notes then begins to get anxious at the thought of Scott ratting him out to his friends and potentially destroying his senior year reputation.

 

               “I-I’m sorry! I-I-I was su-surprised that time! I didn’t know what went over me but I know he didn’t mean it! I actually feel pretty awful about it and-”

 

               “Woah. Chill out boo!” The ghost girl grabs his shoulders, hovering forward. “I totally get it. Don’t worry. Scott can be a bit much at times, he actually told me the entire story and believe you had every right to be caught off guard. I haaaaate being held down so I totally understand. I mean, I mean that in like a metaphorical sense but it should suck literally cause you know, it’s actually happening, but anyway…”

 

               This is Oz’s first time speaking to Polly in person, and as relieved as he is that she’s not there to confront or drug him, he’s very taken aback by how fast and how often she talks. He realizes she might be either high or drunk, or both, this is Polly for crying out loud.

 

               “…Scott is pretty upset about it and in no way blames you boo. He’s actually kind of ashamed about it which his honestly a start for Scott. So when he told me your name I just haaaaad to look for you!” At this point she’s beside Oz, with her arm over his shoulder. The ghost doesn't seem to realize that they're in the same class. A class where she'd laughed at him. 

 

               “And you know, seeing you now, I can see why he likes you so much.”

 

               That sentence both relieves Oz and flusters him a bit

 

               “You really don’t seem like the type to hit people on purpose, and that’s a good thing because that should mean you’re a pretty nice guy overall. I hate it so much when guys have to lie about themselves and act all macho. The sexiest thing is being yourself boo! And now I know that you’re actually pretty sexy”

 

               Oz is really not used to hearing all of these compliments from a monster he just met.

 

               “I-I… uh… Thanks?” Oz says… he thinks

 

               Polly lets out a laugh and lays laterally prone in the air with her legs up and head resting on her crossed forearms. “You are pretty cool Oz, I wonder why I haven’t known about you yet. You up to hanging out with us?”

 

               “I mean I’d have to talk to Scott first…” Oz’s concern takes over his shock, now knowing what Scott has been feeling.

 

               “Boo, stop, I’m getting diabetes, which was how I died” Oz is pretty sure that’s a lie, “Anyway, I’ll see you around, I’ll find you again soon about hanging out, maybe after class ends, cause’ I’ve got a deal at the bathrooms and you didn’t hear that from me~~” She presses a finger to her lips and winks.

 

               Oz gives her a thumbs-up and realizes what the heck he’s doing then starts leering at his own hand gesture.

 

               Polly disappears through the lockers while Oz stands in the middle of the hallway, gathering his consciousness with his thumb still up.


	4. In a Flash

The snag at the school’s backyard smiles wide, the lanterns and banners hanging on its branch illuminate by random bursts of color thanks to the strobe lights on the roots. The monster youth bob up and down to the thunderous beats of the large speakers, the music would build up and drop repetitively but that doesn’t stop the students from screaming and jumping higher at each drop. Oz looks over the sea of party animals, seated on the picnic table, thinking about what went through Principal Giant Spider’s mind when he approved the creation of Student Entertainment and Class Kinship Session.

 

               SECKS states that students have free reign over the backyard and the snag during breaks to ‘accomplish recreational needs’ and ‘keep a positive view on student life’. Students here can do anything as long as the activities are well within the boundaries of discipline and responsibility, but man is the security at this school a complete joke.

 

               The embodiment of fear looks back to this morning where he was expecting to end the day, learning the tedious yet interesting way of the press photographer, but after telling Vicky and Blobert about Polly’s invite they dropped everything and asked him to enjoy the night. He tried to ask them to come along but they insisted it was his night to have fun. As sweet as his friends were, he is swinging his legs and slowly drinking cheap beer, doing the exact opposite of having fun.

 

               Someone taps his shoulder and almost chokes on his drink, seeing a gorgon in a blue suit looking at him, expressionless. He knew he was gonna run into the other popular kids, but he didn’t expect Vera to approach him first.

 

               “So, you’re Polly’s charity case” Vera starts, appropriate enough “My connections have told me a lot about you, and I know everything there is to know about Osric Blaine” Oz starts to shudder, Vera takes a sip from a wine glass, and opens a palm.

 

               “Relax, I’m not here to blackmail you, you have nothing to give me in return. Plus, I may do anything to get my way, but I like to think I’m a good person when I need to be. Anyway, stop looking sad and pathetic and come join our table, you _are_ here to hang out with us” She gestures the shadow boy to follow and immediately makes her way back through the crowd.

 

               _Damn. Vera sure can make a statement for her first impression._ Oz gets off the table and walks like he’s headed to an electric chair, a fearling providing assurance along the way. After dodging some crazy ravers, avoiding violent drunks and hi-fiving Juan the Small Magical Latino Cat, he gets view of Vera speaking to people at a very well-designed carved marble table he’s sure hasn’t always been in the school backyard.

 

               She steps sideways to grant Oz vision on the people at the table, which makes him sort of involuntarily stop and slouch. Surrounding the table are Liam, Damien, and a pink-skinned aquatic girl, who in turn is accompanied by two fishy butlers, one desperately fanning her with a large half of an oyster and one who pulls up a chair for Vera and refilling her glass.

 

               “Oh. Hello again Oz” Liam says, also drinking wine.

 

               “Ugh. You brought a noob to our table?” Damien sneers at Oz who slowly starts becoming uneasy as he remembers the dozen headlines he had to write about his violent mishaps.

 

               The pink-skinned girl scoffs, nursing a small cup “Don’t be rude, Damien, I would like to remind you that we are seated at my table, and therefore, I decide on who will partake in our night of drinking. Speaking of which…” She clears her throat “ANGUS, DO AWAY WITH THE REST, I AM NO LONGER ACCEPTING GUESTS” Miranda shouts.

 

               Oz turns to where she’s facing and sees a line of students looking disappointed, then suddenly frightened as a large, green skinned fish person cracks his knuckles. He watches sin horror as Angus starts chucking the slow runners away.

 

               “Good evening Oz the Sweet! I, Princess Miranda Vanderbilt, humbly welcome you to our lovely gathering!” Oz looks on, confused at Miranda’s disposition after having people thrown across the yard.

 

               “Polly has told us about you, and she was right, you are quite awkward and fidgety, which of course, adds to your charm!” Oz is flattered and a bit frightened, he answers with purpose to not potentially anger her.

 

               “Than-thank you for having me, princess” The table bursts into laughter, making Oz sink into the seat even further.

 

               “Miranda will suffice, your fidgeting amuses me” She snaps her fingers and a third serf approaches from behind, providing Oz with a gold-trimmed glass and pouring out a magenta liquid from a spiral shell. He takes a sip and tastes little to no alcohol content.

 

               “Do you like it?” Miranda asks looking thrilled “It’s special Vanderbilt wine I made from the heads of the harlot handmaids that tried to poison me two weeks ago, you are one of the first to enjoy it” The shadow boy did taste some blood and would rather not think about how she got the rest of a head into liquid form.

 

               _Do not gag. Do **not** gag._

 

               “ _Pffft_. please” Damien chuckles “As metal as that is, I bet Oz would like something even more **metal**!!” Damien sports a terrifying smile and slams a red bottle onto the table badly labeled ‘Grapes of Wrath’. Oz lets his fear take the wheel here as he quickly declines.

 

               “No! No! I’m... I’m more of a-a… I like my drinks mild…”

 

               “Whatever noob, more for me” Damien breaks off the top of the bottle and pours the entire thing down his throat. Miranda reels in disgust while Vera leans in toward Oz and whispers:

 

               “Between you and me, that’s just a bottle of convenience store wine with a ton of hot sauce and six cans of energy drinks dumped into it” Oz would find that funny if he didn’t start to guard his drink and become incredibly wary about what this girl offers him. Damien puts the bottle down, now incredibly overwhelmed with energy. He shakes in his chair before immediately jumping toward an unfortunate mummy that just happened to pass by. Oz, afraid and curious as to what he got himself into, ignores the pained yelps and sounds of bones cracking as everyone else on the table seems to pay no mind.

 

               “So Oz…” Miranda pipes up, resting her head on her intersecting hands “…we’re all very curious to know your side about that issue with Scott” Oz becomes visibly shaken, then starts looking around.

 

               “Where _is_ Scott?”

 

               “Oh. I believe he has football training today, so he will not be joining us until further toward the night” Miranda sounds like she knew he’d ask that. Vera looks at you over her glass, looking unsurprised.

 

               “I know you two have a magical bond to fix or whatever, but you’re here to hang out with all of us, so at the very least talk to us so we can figure out what’s just _so_ amazing about you” Her snakes twist around her neck and arm, studying the shadow being with their tongues, but _wow!_ That was almost a compliment from Vera!

 

               “Sorry…”

 

               “…I see!” Oz turns to Liam, who pipes up, starting to look a bit drunk. “How come I’ve never thought of this before? You see friends, Oz’s charm comes from is incredible ineptitude at social interaction and natural closed off body language…”

 

               _Wow._ Oz stares at Liam, feeling incredibly attacked.

 

               “…he maintains an aura of amiable shyness along with an air of mystery, other monsters will not help but try their hand at solving the enigma which is… Oz!” He ends with a flourish, his eyes disappearing behind his glasses and the wine spinning around the glass.

 

               “It is incredibly functional! Oh, if only I have known about that persona sooner, I’d enjoy leading an unpopular life while still having many of my eccentric and unique hobbies” Oz sighs at hearing the honest and accurate view on his reputation but nonetheless a bit happy that the vampire is promoting his personality.

 

               “…. Thanks” Oz levies a response, feeling less frightened and more despondent. Also because Damien is no longer at the table.

 

               A three glasses of harlot wine (which he hates to admit tastes pretty good) and a few small conversations later, he’s gotten a bit more comfortable at speaking to the high school higher-ups. He’s began to make small talk on his own and even made a few jokes to get them laughing. Overall, it’s still a strange experience for Oz, but he’s not forgetting about what he needed to do. He tells them what happened at that fateful lunch period and they seem to quickly take his side of the story, despite supposedly being Scott’s friends.

 

               “…I mean yes, he is very nice and sweet with his show of appreciation, but I simply cannot bear having to deal with that all the time. Which is why I’ve brought a hugging serf to school to take Scott’s hugs for me! Polly even requested a hugging serf of her own but you know the issue with the peasants… ” Miranda states, and Oz does not know the issue with the peasants, but he nods in agreement regardless.

 

               “I haven’t seen Polly around…” The fear-creature asks, feeling a small hit from the watered-down wine.

 

               “She’s probably off getting high on rich-loser-sponsored molly” Vera says, now being poured another bottle of harlot wine.

 

               Suddenly ghost arms wrap around Oz from behind, carrying a bottle of beer and giving him that familiar chill around his exposed neck. He turns to meet Polly’s face and yes, she is _high_.

 

               “Don’t worry Oz, you’re still my favorite loser” She winks then floats over to seat next to the shadow boy brought in by a serf. Oz smiles at Polly with his eyes, glad that she’s genuinely happy to see him here.

 

               “Did I miss anything?” Polly asks, her feet on the table.

 

               “Polly please! This is court-quality mermaid-marble from the merble mines!” Miranda frowns at Polly’s etiquette, but the ghost doesn’t budge. Oz points over to where Damien is climbing up the snag and chasing what looks to be a very tired Juan the Small Magical Latino Cat, which would concern him, but he has confidence in Juan’s hiding, running, and magicality. Also, Damien has just now fallen off the snag, which eases his worries.

 

               Polly cackles “I can’t believe he actually bought that dumb wine mix you made him”

 

               Vera is currently counting a few bills then places it into her suit pocket “I have no idea what you’re talking about, also your new friend has proven himself to be tolerable”

 

               Before Oz can express any form of embarrassment, the table gets thrown toward him, luckily, he ducks out of the way and they all find… The Slayer!

 

               “Prepare to die, hideous creatures!” She yells, standing up completely revealing the blades she’s carrying with both hands “I have sedated your green scaly goon, you have to protection against my wrath!!!”

 

               “Wha- Wait, have you been holding this table up the entire time?” Liam asks. The Slayer sneers and starts sharpening her blades. Oz, though thoroughly terrified, is impressed by the Slayer’s endurance, he felt no vibrations on the table earlier.

 

               “Angus??” Miranda looks over to where her body guard was and sees him asleep and packaged in a Styrofoam container. “Eek! Finn! Swishy! Defend me!!!” Sadly the three serfs have already started running toward the field, leaving Miranda sitting on a lone chair. She starts to lunge at the princess and Oz quickly backs away.

 

               _Oz! Save the people who tolerate you! They gave you harlot wine!_

 

               Oz then gets an idea, it’s not one he likes, but no one else seems to have any idea on how to help Miranda. A fearling pops up from his shoulder and Oz starts whispering to it. The fearling’s usual white features turn to red and it hops up from his shoulder and morphs, becoming a dark wisp. At this point, Vera and Polly desperately try, and are failing to, pull on The Slayer’s cloak as she slashes wildly at Miranda who has turned the chair over and hidden behind it. The fearling slides into the back of The Slayer’s head and she suddenly stops.

 

               “Huh?” The Slayer looks around, seeing nothing. Everything’s becomes dark, then, multiple generic looking humans surround her, sporting eyepatches and equipment and wearing spiky armor, they start pointing and laughing at The Slayer. “Look! Aaravi thinks she can kill monsters!” Suddenly she looks down and sees that she’s in an apron, her swords that have apparently become gardening tools.

 

               Vera, Polly, and Liam watch in confusion as the Slayer suddenly drops her weapons and backs away from Miranda, shouting random phrases.

 

               “No! I told you dad! I don’t want to run the flower shop!”. And as quickly as Miranda gets up, Damien crashes into The Slayer and starts hitting her with flaming fists. However, embers fly off Damien’s hands from the momentum and lands on the hanging banners above, setting them on fire and making them drop to the grass. Everything just goes downhill from there. In panic, Vera and Liam help Miranda as Polly pulls Damien away from the Slayer who is lying on the ground, flabbergasted. She snaps out of it and pulls out a bottle and smashes it onto the ground next to her, she disappears into the cloud of smoke.

 

               “Oz! Let’s go!” Vera shouts, now helping Polly with dragging a thrashing Damien around the corner of the school. But oz can’t move, he stands there and watches everything goes down in flames. All the students start grabbing pails of water and start making sure the snag is safe. The flames start reflecting onto Oz’s blank eyes and a deep-seated awareness of karma takes him over.

 

               _No. No. NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO_

As Oz shivers in place, he’s suddenly lifted of the ground, snapping him out of the stupor. He looks up to see a familiar pair of blue eyes.

              

                “What are you doing bro?! We need to get out of here!” the hairy man quickly makes a break for it with Oz in his arms, and the shadow being realizes how far behind they are from the crowd, who’s starting to head toward the gates of the school. But Scott seems to be running toward the football field, he arrives to the first bleacher and sets Oz down and clutches his knees, panting heavily.

 

               “I don’t like… running when… it’s running from something…. instead of running at something…” Scott pauses to exhale, trying to stifle a laugh as he looks at Oz. The being of fear sits up properly and takes time to breath himself, he gestures for Scott to sit next to him, and he obliges. They both stare at their feet, trying to catch their breath.

 

               “This is an awful way to meet again” Oz says chuckling, Scott joins in and they’re both laughing. Scott leans back and looks at Oz on tenterhooks, visibly unsure on what to do. Oz stares back and closes his eyes to gather his thoughts. Instead of speech, he just ends up repeatedly opening his mouth and looking around randomly, as if he can literally find words to say written along the grassy field. But then a hand goes down onto his scalp, and from there, Oz finds a way to focus on one thing.

 

               “Are you alright?” Scott looks at him like his expression of concern is a leap of faith. Oz both hates and also is intrigued by how Scott’s general vibe isn’t as happy tonight. He can tell he looks worried and that he’s trying really hard to ease the situation, in fact, Oz thinks he’s kind of holding back, which brings him to start the conversation with the right words.

 

               Oz grabs Scott’s wrist to set down his hand “I’m wonderful. Thanks for helping me out. I owe you” He’s amazed at how calm he sounded, and even more amazed that Scott immediately melts into a happier mood. The thoughts in the shadow boy’s mind almost arranges itself, and they start flowing out of his mouth like a river of candor.

 

               _I… I can do this!_

 

               “Listen. About what happened that time at lunch, please don’t take anything I said there to heart. I barely know you, so in turn, you barely know me. I wasn’t having the best of days, so I was in a pretty sour mood before you showed up. Safe to say…”

 

               Oz sees Scott looking like he’s remembering everything too. For the next line, he almost has to ride the momentum of his current spiel in order to continue talking.

 

               “…I’m… not exactly the most comfortable with being… being _held_. It’s not that I don’t like you being affectionate, I know you’re just being yourself, it’s just I’m generally not used to, um, embrace…?”

 

               Scott nods. _Good, this conversation is getting somewhere._

 

                “So when that happened, I kind of freaked out, panicked, and… I acted out in panic too… Sorry if I made you feel like you did something horrible, in fact, your show of affection is great and everyone should be able to express their love as easily as you do. I hope we can move past it and not let this… small issue define each other and that maybe we can be friends?” Oz starts getting flushed after saying that last line, and realizes he just outright asked for friendship to a guy who still has to respond to his apology. His apprehensions disappear when he sees Scott grinning from ear to ear and his tail wagging like crazy.

 

               “I’d really like that! I’m sorry too, buddy, but I know now!” He actively gets up and almost immediately lunges at Oz with wide arms. But he stops himself abruptly, seeing Oz wince, he steps back and stands there, clasping his hands together, still wagging happy though maybe a bit embarrassed. Oz almost feels bad that he made the guy stop himself

 

               _One step at a time, Oz._ The shadow being breathes in, closes his eyes, and comes close to the standing wolf man. When he fells like he’s close, he reaches forward, and his arms go around Scott.

 

               It’s not the most graceful of embraces, but he’s just happy he got to initiate. Scott quickly pulls up his arms and wraps around Oz in return. Oz’s breath quickens, but this time, it’s not out of fear, it’s at the pleasant surprise of warmth, a different kind almost. All tension disappears, and he wishes he can just melt into the werewolf, with the moon’s white light drowning out the orange hue of the fire.


	5. What Else There Is

               “Do you think I was being too accommodating?” The shadow boy faces toward the kitchen, poking at his omelet with a fork. The equally as shadowy lady turns around with a bowl of apple slices and grapes and places it onto the kitchen island. She fixes the sleeves and looks to her son inquisitively.

 

               “What makes you say that?”

 

               “I mean I barely know this wolf man but I spoke to and forgave him like we’re already pretty close”

 

               “Well, what was going through your head when you were saying those things?” She shrugs on a gray blazer and leans onto the counter to focus on the discussion.

 

               “I… I…” Oz struggles to recover his memories and remembers that horrible mix of panic and responsibility that eventful night “… He just looked like he needed to be completely assured, especially with what his friends have been telling me… Not to mention this was right after he pulled me out of the fire…”

 

                “You were what?!” She suddenly sits upright after hearing that

 

               “What?! No! No! I wasn’t _in_ the fire, I meant he just sort of lead me out of the area, no fire was near me!” Oz flushes, leaving out the detail where he was princess-carried. Delilah pinches the bridge of her nose and sits on the stool opposite to the shadow boy.

 

               “Sorry… this is not about me, but you really should have picked up!” She says as her worries from hearing about the fire the previous week return. “A fire…. Oz, I’m so sorry I couldn’t be there when that happened…” Oz defensively raises his hands.

 

               “No… It’s my fault, Mom. Come on, I should have called you back, I was busy with… what I was talking about” Oz keeps poking at his omelet, wishing it will somehow grant him clarity with every bite. This shouldn’t be so hard to talk about, yet Oz believes he’s making it more and more complicated.

 

               “Well, if you want to hear my thoughts on the situation…” Delilah pipes up “…it sounds like your regret and gratitude lead you to feel like you had to repay him then and there, in this case, you repaid him with your apology and your forgiveness”

 

               Oz ponders on it and nods along, his mother comes around and pats his back.

 

               “Does that make sense? Are you gonna be alright?” She asks, grabbing a shoulder bag off the side counter. He twists the bar stool around to face her.

 

               “Yeah. It does. I’ll keep thinking about it. Thanks mom.” He waves at her. She unlocks the door and waves from the door frame.

 

               “Call me if you need me sweetheart, _seriously_ ” She jokingly gives a stern look before closing he door behind her. Oz chuckles, then twists back toward the counter and runs his hand through his morphed hair, followed by another hand wiping down his face. He rests onto the kitchen island, wondering if he should have mentioned that he ended up hugging him.

 

               Regardless, he feels happy that he finally brought it up with his mom, getting some solid insight in return. He admits he might have been a bit dramatic with the apology, but it did get him a newfound, excitable dog boy as a friend. The werewolf has proven he can stop his touchy tendencies around Oz, but now shows his affection in other ways. After the fire last week, Scott began to tail him after his classes only to be quickly saddened every time he tells him that he has press work to do. The first time it happened, Scott legitimately sat outside the press room for an hour, awarding Oz with Vicky’s incessant teasing. After talking to the werewolf, Oz got him to stop and promised that they’ll hang out when they find time. Vicky, being the wonderful friend that she is, kept giving Oz assignments to take photos of football practice to ‘hype up the upcoming game’, through that, Oz now comes by the stadium every Thursday and Friday night much to Scott’s joy.

 

               After poking fun at the shadow boy’s supposed ‘rise in popularity’, Amira and Brian discover that Liam is a fan of their work, being independent and all. The vampire has now become Player Character’s pseudo manager, consistently finding plenty of underground audiences to perform for. Though Scott isn’t the only new companion for Oz’s roster, Polly has now begun to bring the fear-creature to her parties and started asking him about crazy stuff they can do. Oz, being grateful for the opportunity to reconcile with Scott, obliges despite not being to well-versed in the art of party. Nonetheless, Oz’s mundane ideas of having swirly straws for the drinks and homemade paper-mâché piñatas seem to speak to Polly, meaning she completely misunderstands and exaggerates his suggestions; It works out for both of them.

 

               The shadow boy has been so used to being in the background so much that this is pretty much culture shock for him, he’s still not sure if he enjoys it or not. Though, amidst all the excitement for his final year at Spooky High, Oz is convinced he has somehow managed to Pavlov Scott’s friendship with him by baiting him with his meat of kindness (and a metaphor to never use ever again). It only makes sense, considering the guy has started following him like he’s his owner despite only knowing the other exists very recently.

 

               _The guy is a sponge for affection Oz, you could have just somehow made your returned affection more valuable by getting mad and hitting him._ _You know what that sounds like right?_

 

               His fearlings begin patting his face and he realizes that the bus has arrived. He tosses the eggs into the fridge, gathers his satchel and walks up to the bus, while he attempts at pushing all thoughts of Scott out of his mind.

 

\---

 

               At school, Oz has found that he’s doing swimmingly at everything so far, thanks in large part of his temporary break from his usual headline work. He’s quickly becoming Mr. Bigfoot’s favorite which would normally make everyone hate him if it weren’t for his recent upgrade in status, not to mention he just really enjoys literature class. He now walks the halls, shyly waving back to some familiar and unfamiliar students every now and then. Everything is going well for the first two weeks, at least until Coach returns from his business trip. Everyone says that gym doesn’t just help build fitness, but also charm, and Oz is still waiting for his fix.

 

               “Blaine! It’s great that you managed to get up there, but you need to come down!” The largely-built tiger person shouts from below. Oz refuses to meet his gaze in fear of dying from a heart attack before dying from falling. It is pretty amazing how his determination got him up there, but man does it feel horrible to be suspended in the air.

 

               “I-I hear you C-coach!!!” He forces out as he begins to slowly squirm down the rope in half-inches. The shadow boy knows it will take him forever, and so do his classmates whose collective groans can be heard from below. Ten seconds into his crawling, he’s grabbed from the rope and placed down onto the ground effortlessly. Oz opens his eyes to see the werewolf smiling and giving him a thumbs-up.

 

               “Good job buddy! You showed that two meters of rope who’s boss!”

 

               Oz looks up and indeed realizes that the rope is just tied to a basketball ring and returns the gesture, slightly turning pink. The test continues as Scott sits with Oz on the side bleachers.

 

               “That was incredibly pathetic…” Oz deadpans to himself as a fearling wipes his sweat with a tiny hanky.

 

               “Well… I still think it’s great that you tried even though you know that you might fail! That’s what sporting is all about!” Scott smiles reassuringly.

 

               “Trying isn’t gonna get me a good grade in this class, Scott, and the beep test is next week too, which I’m pretty sure is gonna kill me, hell, I can barely…” Oz stops himself, seeing Scott looking concerned. They may be friends now, but the shadow boy forgets that they’re still not close enough to hear him sharing his self-doubt. He especially can’t do that to someone like Scott, whose entire ordeal is happiness, Oz would hate to bum him out.

 

               “I-I mean…thanks Scott, that’s… that’s great to hear” He reluctantly gives Scott two pats on the arm as he gets up.

 

               “Hey um… I think I’ll get changed already, class is almost over anyway” As Oz says that, Scott starts looking like he wants to say something, which surprises the embodiment of fear considering Scott pretty much says everything on his mind.

 

               “Okay… alright. I’ll see you at lunch?” Scott asks, clasping his hands together. If Oz believes he’s any good with people, it would be because he can sort of tell when someone is thinking hard about something, due to experience. Then again, it’s not hard to tell when Scott’s trying to think so he brushes it off and nods at the wolf man before heading toward the showers.

 

               The shadow boy limps slightly, mostly due to having a foot wrapped with rope for a long duration. Wiping the sweat off his face and tossing it angrily onto the grass, he starts to rethink everything once more.

 

               _Ace all your classes… Pfft. Joke of the year Osric, almost as funny a joke as you are, thinking you can pass everything with flying colors. Stop getting so worked up on a single subject, you know you were gonna do badly, why do you keep lying to yourself thinking that it will eventually come true…_

Thank god for fearlings right? This time, three popped up and basically slapped him sideways, upward, and from behind.

 

               _Thanks…_ Oz relays. They all nod with purpose before sinking back into his shoulder.

 

               “So that’s how you did it…” A voice speaks up. Oz hops backward, with an arm over his chest, finding Vera in front of him, seated on a folded chair with a swamp creature desperately fanning her.

 

               “V-Vera!” Oz vomits out, fixing his posture and scratching the back of his neck. The gorgon signals the swamp creature to leave, which they happily do so, darting off to the school. She stands up and pulls up her golden shades as she approaches Oz with resolve, making the shadow being take an extra step back voluntarily.

 

               “Those tiny blobs on your shoulders, they’re phobias, aren’t they?” Vera starts to sound sultry, mostly likely from being impressed at her own wit as a smile creeps onto her face. Oz is scrambling to find a decent response but is too busy trying to get himself to stop shaking to even nod.

 

               “Hah!” She stands up straight and places a hand on her hip “I knew that Slayer girl wasn’t just going nuts for no reason. That was _you!_ ” Hearing that pronoun almost made Oz’s skin crawl, giving him a kick start at responding.

 

               “I’m not proud of it” that sounded more austere than Oz would have liked, Vera’s grin drops. He immediately tears his eyes away and looks to his shoes.

 

               _Nice one Oz, yeah, make Vera Oberlin your enemy! What a wonderful idea with no repercussions!_

“Well, obviously, what kind of a monster would take advantage of their enemy’s fears and insecurities?” Vera asks, now pulling up her foldable chair. Before Oz could answer, she immediately does so herself.

 

               “Me Oz, that’s who, and I can do so without your little shadow peeps because I’m amazing like that” Oz nods, he feels like it’s in his best interest to just nod, Vera smells his fear and scoffs.

 

               “Don’t flatter yourself, if I wanted you in my schemes I would have started blackmailing you a long time ago, besides, you’d make a horrible confidant with how easy you are to break” Oz, though feeling the sharp needles of Vera’s judgement pierce through his skin, relaxes upon hearing that. It’s true anyway, guilt gets to him pretty quickly and he’s not gonna gamble his pride over a fact.

 

               “Not to mention you’re nice, _too nice_ , you’re surely gonna end up stabbing me in the back to do the _right thing_ or whatever, and I can’t risk that” Vera places the folded chair under her arm “But you know… I’ll call you when I need something, now that we’re _friends_ and all”

 

               She struts away, putting her glasses back on. Oz wanted to take a shower to clear his thoughts, but Vera seemed to help him by filling his head with other thoughts. Suddenly, Vera stops, and turns back toward Oz, he gulps.

 

               “Oh, which shower are you using?” She asks, Oz quickly complies.

 

               “Uhh.. Shower twenty-five?” Oz gives her the farthest shower in the room, potentially away from everyone else. Vera pulls out a remote control from her jacket and holds it up. As she presses a button, Oz winces, hearing a tiny explosion from inside the bathroom.

“There” She nonchalantly pockets her remote “Just wash the ashes down the drain and you’re set… Oh! And don’t change out of your clothes until you’re _in_ the stall, just to be sure, you know?” She smiles and goes back to her trek toward the school. The shadow boy feels bad for whoever tumbled Vera’s rocks, but he now has a newfound fear for both public bathrooms and gorgons in business attire.

 

               After Oz is done mostly just sitting in the shower and letting the water splash onto his back, the shower room is already packed. All the monsters look at him as he exits the stall, fully-dressed and zips past them toward the exit, remembering Vera’s little scheme. Scott clasps him on the shoulder as he makes it out of the door, already in his letterman jacket.

 

               “Hey bro, Vera told me to change in another bathroom, so I just waited out here” Oz exhales, appreciating the fact that the snake lady has _some_ heart “So are you going to the cafeteria?” The shadow boy shakes his head.

 

               “I’m gonna eat somewhere out here, Scott, I already packed lunch” Oz states, already heading toward that corner of the school with only grass “I’ll see y-”

 

               “Can I sit with you?” The werewolf asks, tail already lazily swaying back and forth “I know you don’t want company but… maybe we can be better friends if we talk and stuff”

 

               _Well, that’s Scott logic for you_. Oz does his version of a smirk, mostly using his eyes.

 

               “Of course you can Scott, your company would be great” Oz loves his me-time, but that’s overshadowed by his guilt of what happened at lunch to decline, they can at least make new lunch memories. Not to mention he also doesn’t want Scott to tone down his joviality toward him, as the chipper reaction he got is already more in-line with the good-old Scott.

 

               “Hooray! I promise I won’t ask for your lunch again!” Scott gleefully expresses as he swipes Oz off of his feet and spins him around, then he stops and sets him down again, looking like he committed a crime.

 

               “Sorry… I’m still-”

 

               “No! No! It’s alright, let’s just… go over there” Oz reassures and points toward the spot they met last time. They sit down and the shadow boy reflects on the conversation and remembers something, he goes through his satchel and pulls out a sealed bag with a very familiar sandwich inside it. Scott can’t help but wag faster upon seeing it.

 

               “I uh… this is to apologize for last time” Oz hands it to Scott, who takes it with both hands and looks intently at it. Oz immediately feels further alleviated upon seeing the wonder in Scott’s big blue eyes, this is for sure a farther step than where they picked up last time and it’s amazing. Oz realizes that Scott still isn’t opening the plastic wrap and almost assumes he doesn’t know how, that is before he looks up and sees Scott looking at him, breathing heavily and just bleeding with inhibition.

 

               Oz realizes what’s going on, sighs, and jumps down from the planter. Scott’s eyes follow Oz as he lazily walks in front of him and straight-up opens his arms, giving him an expression of approval. Oz thinks he’s being accommodating again, but something in him just wants to encourage Scott to be himself, even if it means quickly jumping back up from an incredibly recent issue.

 

               It doesn’t take long for the werewolf to quickly wrap him in his big, furry arms, though this time, he doesn’t pin him to the ground; Instead, he lifts him up into the air. Oz, though glad that they both loosened up, still blushes when he realizes that the guy is rubbing his face onto his chest. As quickly as he got picked up, he is set down and Scott has both of his hands on his arms, now looking like his usual self. Oz hates to admit it, but with eyes like that, it would make sense for his walls to come down smoothly, he ends up smiling back.

 

               “I don’t know if I deserve you being this nice to me buddy, but I’ll always remember this. You are my best bro!” Oz really has to look away after hearing that, but he keeps his eyes on Scott and starts scratching the back of his head.

 

               _What is this wolf man doing to me?_

 

               Their staring contest is interrupted when the shadow boy is ripped out of Scott’s grasp and held back with a ton of strength. He turns his head to see a group of werewolves lead by a brown-haired… human? Oz puts two and two together, remembering that not every werewolf has the same degree of transformation, and as much as he understands what these people are, he’s absolutely terrified.

 

               “Yo Scott!” The brown-haired man yells in a raspy voice “are you interrogating this loser? Is he bothering you? Cause we’re experts in the art of loseterro… interlose… loserogating? Yeah! **Loserrogating!** ” He points a large finger to Oz’s chest, making him shake even more “That means loser interrogating! Get it loser?!” The rest of the wolf pack howl in laughter and the shadow boy thinks that wearing yellow pants today wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

 

               Suddenly, he’s recovered by Scott who gently sets him off to the side.

 

               “Bros come on! He’s not bothering me, and he’s not a loser he’s…” the werewolf looks at Oz who’s visibly trying to catch his breath “…he’s not a loser!” Scott yells back. The wolfpack look surprised almost, the human-looking one approaches Scott again in menacing strides.

 

               “Scott, I didn’t know you started standing up for _nobodies_. This tiny loser is messing with your head bro! And we know how to deal with tricksters like them” The brunet turns to Oz which makes the embodiment of fear become... embodied with even more fear at how coincidentally accurate that is. Oz is just about to dive into the safety of his subconscious, right until he swore he just heard a low growl coming from Scott.

              

               “Just **_stop!!!_** If you guys are gonna head to the cafeteria just go! I’ll… I’ll catch up… just please go…” Scott’s booming tone lowers gradually as he says that, almost a bit too close to the other werewolf’s face, the rest of the pack’s ears are folded and their tails swing between their legs. It goes uncomfortably quiet for a bit, and Scott’s expression for once is unreadable, at most, looking pained.

 

               Oz gets control of his breathing as he watches the wolf pack move past Scott, headed for the double doors to the school. Scott stands there, seemingly trying to control his breathing too, until he remembers who he’s with and looks at Oz, who in turn, is gazing at him inquisitively. Scott melts into sadness, which almost breaks the shadow boy’s heart

 

               “I’m sorry about my cousins Oz, they can get a bit-”

 

               “No” Oz states, he doesn’t want to press on something Scott is obviously affected by “You don’t have to explain to me Scott, I understand what pack bonds are, my mom told me about them…” Scott looks slightly amazed, then he sighs.

 

               “Hey… I’ll see you around…?” The werewolf asks, trying to repurpose of the joy they felt a few moments ago. Oz nods, wanting to show he’s undeterred by everything even though it’s a lie.

 

               “Of course… and tell me what you think of the sandwich, that is if your cousins don’t steal it away…” Oz is scared that the joke might have been too soon to say, but it gets Scott chuckling.

 

               “Don’t worry! I’ll make sure it doesn’t go to waste, and if it’s from you bro, I’m sure I’ll love it!” Scott’s charm really can surface in appropriate times, as told by the fearlings that were popped up the entire time; They quite literally melt back into Oz’s shoulder. The two wave at each other as Oz continues to eat at the concrete planter, not knowing how to read the entire situation and settle on just focusing on how it ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may have to take a while to sort of properly organize where this story is going, but I assure you I'll try to put together a decent and logical plot! Thank you to everyone for the feedback and all.


	6. Downtime

               “Like this?” The shadow boy looks to Vicky expectantly, holding the camera atop his forearm; Judging from the fact he’s shivering already warrants more than an answer. The bluish-gray ghoul laughs and moves to have Oz place his hand onto his other shoulder and raising his elbow to be perfectly flat.

 

               “This. Then you just place the camera on your arm” Vicky leads Oz’s other hand whilst keeping his posture intact, Oz then starts to stabilize and is now using his arm as a pseudo table to keep himself from shaking the camera. He looks around the front yard of the school to test out his grip.

 

               “Wow, this actually works really well” Oz takes a few test shots at Amira and Brian who are seated on the bench in front of him, humoring him by doing peace signs. The light from the near lamp posts give the photo a bit of a sentimental feel. “Neat trick Vicky! I’ll definitely take better pictures now”.

 

               “If we’re being perfectly honest Oz, I had to watch over you tonight after those ridiculously fuzzy takes you showed me last week” Vicky playfully jabs Oz on the shoulder, making the embodiment of fear’s cheeks turn a light magenta. Amira suddenly gets up and walks toward Oz, gesturing him to show her some of the pictures.

 

               “Actually, with a couple of filters and maybe some decrease in saturation, we can make an album cover out of this!” Oz lets the djinn hold the camera as she brings it toward Brian who takes a look then nods.

 

               “We just have to make our faces obscure to pass Liam’s weird standards” Brian clearly meant that as a joke, but Amira’s hair burns strong as she goes wide-eyed.

 

               “Oh fuck yeah! We can take some crumpled-up slices of paper, badly draw some faces on them, then tape them over our heads! It will look epic! It will say something like ‘ _appearances mean nothing to us, listen to our music to judge us for our talent!_ ’” Amira drapes a hand over Oz and waves in the air, spelling out the image with lines of fire. The zombie goes quiet at her lack of realization, but nods lazily after picturing out what the album will look like.

 

               “Gosh, being in a band sounds so exciting, there seems to be so much outlets for creativity” Oz states, looking through the photos.

 

               “Actually, we can’t just do anything we want; Liam said that when it comes to music, we have to be just a _little_ bit pandering to the hit stuff in order to be relevant, which is essentially similar to pretending to not want attention in order to get people to notice you” Brian’s face is unchanged, but pretty much everyone got a whiff of his irritation. Amira rolls her eyes.

 

               “Come on Brian, Liam’s helped us out a lot, so just deal with his pretentiousness” She goes back to the bench to sit next to the zombie, still on his phone “Also I’ve seen you enjoying the acclaim, especially from a specific underwater princess…” As Amira leans in to see his reaction, Brian turns to her immediately and pushes her face away to the other end of the bench, getting a loud cackle from the flaming lady.

 

               “Don’t you like getting Damien’s attention though, Amira?” Oz states in an innocent sounding tone, only supplying to the conversation with what he immediately hears. Realizing what he just said, he faces Amira, looking at him with her mouth agape and Brian laughing at how the tables have turned. Vicky snorts and places a hand on Oz’s shoulder. Amira gets up from the bench and stomps toward Oz. The shadow boy’s eyes light up and he runs around the bench as the djinn desperately chases after him. Everyone is exploding with laughter at this point, not caring about the cacophony they’re making in front of the school since there are only two other groups with them. Oz’s inferior physical state eventually gets the best of him and he surrenders to Amira’s arm lock and noogie.

              

               “You, of all people, are not allowed to turn my joke against me with what you’ve been up to lately dude!” Amira releases her grasp on the shadow boy, grinning with conviction. Oz suddenly stands still, Brian sits upright, leaning toward the conversation, and Vicky crosses her arms and stares at the fear-creature, awaiting his response. Oz does his version of a scoff that sounds more wholesome than proud.

 

               “I… I actually don’t know what you mean” Oz becomes serious, tilting his head, scratching his elbow and looking incredibly diffident at Amira. Amira side-eyes Vicky and Brian grows more confused along with Oz.

 

               “Scott, dude. You guys have been spending so much time together” Amira puts out, flat. Oz suddenly feels a wave of heat crawling onto his face, which makes him involuntarily take a step back.

 

               “Uh- Um.. I m-mean… Excuse… Sorry, what?” The shadow boy sprays out multiple reactions at once.

 

               _Excellent work Oz, you have now made yourself way less suspicious, they’ll definitely drop it now._

 

               “Oz, he sits with you at lunch, _we_ don’t even sit with you at lunch; You use the period as personal time, and all of a sudden a werewolf you’ve known for two weeks becomes your lunch buddy” Brian at the moment is much more aware of what’s happening and starts looking like he’s having multiple epiphanies.

 

               “Come on, I told you guys what happened, I had to do something about what went down the last time he showed up at lunch. I didn’t want him to think of lunch period as ‘ _the time this awkward shadow monster gave me a sandwich then hit me_ ’” Oz is more embarrassed that he has to bring it up again, but if this is what he’s debating on then any truth should work for him.

 

               “So you made up for it just by letting him sit with you at lunch…?” Brian voices out, which reveals how lackluster it sounded to the shadow boy as well.

 

               “No! Not just that of course! I… ” The other three now have their eyes and ears glued onto Oz “….I made him a sandwich” Oz might have realized the truth may need to be nitpicked, now that his argument is going against himself. His friends all nod to each other, not surprised with his follow-up.

 

               “Okay, hold on! Wait!” The shadow boy is desperately clawing up the hole he has dug himself into “The entire fight started with a sandwich, and I felt it appropriate it ended with a sandwich too, on good terms, doesn’t that make sense?” Oz pats himself on the back for that logical response, everyone else seems to look toward each other, completely buying it.

 

               “Well then Mr. Sandwich Treaty, be lucky that the football team isn’t having practice today” Amira states, gracefully admitting defeat.

 

               “To be honest here, I thought Scott would prove to be too dumb for you to handle” The zombie wastes no time getting that out of the way, Vicky laughs and nudges him in the cheek for that candor. Oz exhales, remembering his first impression at the park.

 

               “He’s not the brightest, but he means well, and that’s all that matters to me” Oz is fiddling with the extra film he has in his hands and eye-smiling to himself. His dark fingers go through the photos one more time, finding purchase onto a few shaky photos of the Spooky High football team’s training. They’re discernable enough to make out shapes and differentiate the members, though Oz pretty much refers to everyone that’s not Coach and Scott as ‘The Wolf Pack’. His thoughts stagnate there when he arrives at the badly taken photo of Scott, running past him with a ball in one hand and a thumbs-up on the other, winking at the camera.

 

               For the rest of the week, Scott has been sticking with the Wolf Pack like he usually does when he’s not with Miranda and the others. He’ll never say it out loud, but he does genuinely enjoy the wolf man’s company during lunch and misses the strange logic he has to work around in their conversations. Recently, when they pass by each other in the halls Scott’s greetings would vary between wide smiles, winks, and at best, quick fist bumps, which would always put Oz in a lighter mood, at least for a little while. He sighs, shakes his head and pockets the photos, feeling the evening chill taking over.

 

               “You’re absolutely precious Oz, and so is Scott if that’s how you see him” Vicky grabs Oz’s attention with that line, he sees all three of them with warm expressions toward him. He finds a creative way to cover his face and divert the attention by pulling up the camera and snapping a photo of them sitting on the bench. He pulls out the freshly printed square and waits for the image to fade in. His friends on the bench watch his face go from calm to horrified.

              

               “What? Did you use the wrong filter?” Brian chuckles at his own joke. Vicky gets up and pulls the photo from Oz’s hand.

 

               “Oz, there’s no problem if you’re taking a casu- Oh!” Vicky holds the photo far away like it’s going to eat her face If it gets too close. The picture is showing a dark figure standing next to the bench, crouching sideways with an eerie smile. Oz immediately looks around to see if anyone is there with them, the moment he stops and lets his breathing slow, he turns back forward and catches a pale blue face, inches away from his. Oz falls to the ground with a heavy gasp while Polly laughs, clutching her stomach in mid-air.

 

               “Looks like you’ve fallen for me boo! Maybe next time you’ll learn how to handle a Prank Mastah!!!” Polly leans forward to pull Oz up to his feet, having to look down to hide his embarrassment. Amira laughs, slapping her leg while Brian nods approvingly while clapping. Vicky places a hand on her chest and wipes her eye.

 

               “Wow, you’re gonna ace the AP Jump Scares practical exam next week Polly” Oz says, panting slightly. Polly takes him and Vicky under her arms.

 

               “Being a ghost has its perks” She winks “anyway boos, I’ve got a little get together tomorrow night at my place, and you’re aaalllllll coming”

 

               “Oh… Polly I’m not exactly-”

 

               Polly raises a finger against Oz’s nonexistent mouth, then proceeds to pass it through his head, it’s so strange that it shuts him up “It’s gonna be a movie night with a few friends, okay? You don’t have to worry about my mad dancing skills anytime soon boo”. Oz shudders, remembering that one time they crashed a Quinceañera and Polly started grinding the poor celebrant’s grandfather, who was essentially a jar of ash since they got him cremated.

 

               “I took your advice and sure, a calmer night will give me a break from dealing with too much epic partying, I mean I believe in no such thing but apparently it’s how I died” Oz is pretty sure it wasn’t

 

                “It’s not just gonna be any movie night…” The ghost pulls out a pirated DVD case from god knows where, revealing multiple movie covers badly photoshopped onto the front    “…we’re watching human horror! I’ve always wanted to know how scary these humans think we are”

 

               Everyone expresses awe, human horror movies were outlawed for monsters below 25 as the representation of monsters in them are incredibly inaccurate and demeaning, but that just made all the underaged love them even more. Polly quickly slips the DVD back into… somewhere, and floats toward the edge of the school.

 

               “See you guys there! Byeeeee!”

 

               As Polly disappears around the corner the group’s attention is taken by a pair of headlights illuminating the street, a red four-seater pulls up into view at the school gate and a tan skinned man sporting flames that curve up into a quiff honks the horn. The fire djinn starts packing her stuff, signaling Brian to start doing the same.

 

               “Are you sure you dudes aren’t coming along? My brother really doesn’t mind bring you home, he _wants_ to be on the road longer” Amira asks, throwing slinging her knapsack over one shoulder.

 

               “It’s alright” Vicky replies “We have more press work to talk about”

 

               With that, Amira and Brian wave goodbye and rush over to the car, leaving Vicky and Oz to sit on the now vacant bench.

 

               “So, what’s up?” The blue skinned girl looks to Oz with concern, he sighs, just now starting to gather words. He had told Vicky that he needs to talk to her about something important during club while he had a script in mind, but after all the shenanigans, his thoughts have been misarranged.

 

               “Well first of all…” He struggles to even mention a single point, fearing that if he starts out his spiel wrong, he’ll undermine the entire discussion. Vicky nods and gives him a patient smile, he exhales.

 

               “I think Vera knows…”

 

               “…about?”

 

               “The phobias, Vicky, she knows how they work”

 

               Frankenstein’s daughter doesn’t react sharply, but she does look around the area, physically trying to make sense of what the shadow boy had said. Only his family can do such a feat, and they all agreed to just never use it unless it’s completely urgent. More of Oz’s fears arrive when he thinks about having to tell his mother, but Vicky pats his shoulder before any fearlings can sprout.

 

               “How…?” Vicky looks to Oz, who has his eyes closed.

 

               “I… may have left some stuff out when I told you guys about the fire…”

 

               “…Did you… use them?” Oz appreciates Vicky not making a big deal about the entire situation, especially since she knows how serious it is for the embodiment of fear. She quickly but calmly grabs Oz’s shoulder when she hears his breathing quicken.

 

               “It’s fine Oz, no judgements here, if it’s you then it’s always for a good reason” Oz doesn’t turn to face her, but he smiles with his eyes.

              

               “It’s the only way I could stop the Slayer from attacking Miranda; It’s just some pretty bad timing”

 

               “And Vera saw?”

 

               “I guess so” Oz’s hand makes it to the back of his neck again and he sighs “I should have been more careful”

 

               “Well… Miranda’s lucky she’s got someone like you looking out for her at the time” Vicky squeezes Oz’s arm and they both share a smile “Also I’d rather not think of the fate of the school if King Vanderbilt finds out her daughter was slain…”

 

               That’s enough to get Oz to laugh and sit upright to lean against the back-rest. Vicky does the same thing, her expression going from serene to perky.

 

               “Just saying, I can talk to Vera” Oz side-eyes the stitched girl, judging her audacity.

 

               “Sure Vicky, it’s _super_ easy reason with Vera Oberlin.” He remembers their talk near the bathrooms and feels like he shouldn’t say that anymore, but he can’t be too sure.

 

               “If it’s for you Oz, it definitely will be, so don’t underestimate me.”

 

               “I really don’t deserve you, Vicky” Oz has his head at his hands, hiding the fact that he’s starting to get emotional. Vicky leans over to hug the shadow boy, resting her chin on his back.

 

               “You deserve _everything_ ”

 

               Oz wipes the wetness from his eyes away and rests his head on his palm. Vicky brings a foot up onto the bench and they both stare at the dark woods in front of the school, only slightly illuminated by the wall lights, sitting in silence.

 

               “You know…” Vicky breaks the silence. Oz tilts his head toward her.

 

               “Mmm?”

 

               “I think Scott likes you too”

 

               Oz loudly groans and goes into a fetal position on the bench seat, looking away to cover his face with his hands. Vicky laughs at the quick mood change, moving closer to pull Oz back up into a sitting position.

 

               “I do think so! It’s an honest thought!”

 

               “Is this really a good time to talk about it?”

 

               “Oz, you pulled me aside earlier to have both of us here alone to talk about things, it’s the perfect segue!” Oz knows she makes sense, and he just gives up on pushing the subject away.

 

               “Okay love doctor, what gives you that idea”

 

               “Well for starters he follows you around like you’re a slab of meat”

 

               “He’s a loving person, Vicky, he’ll follow anyone around who’s nice to him”

 

               “Scott is pretty popular, Oz, everyone likes him, but in the end he’s still with you”

 

               The embodiment of fear’s eyebrows curve up in curiosity, though still denying everything Vicky says.

 

               “Another thing is how hard he tries to be calm when you show up, you know how Scott’s super excitable all the time? Well he stops, for _you,_ because your comfort _matters_ to him”

 

               “Vicky… I don’t think it’s a good thing if he can’t be himself around me”

 

               “Now that’s an issue both of you guys need to resolve, but my point still stands, he **wants** you to **like** him, so he adjusts to your needs” Vicky is making so much sense, and Oz hates it but slightly loves it as well, he starts flushing once more.

 

               “Vicky, I can’t think on all that at once”

 

               “You don’t have to think about the technicalities now, just consider it, not to raise your hopes up or anything, but because I know you’re gonna end up overthinking this and make it into a bad thing”

 

               Vicky’s tone might have been joyful for that sentence, but Oz can detect the hint of concern in her voice. He sighs and just nods.

 

               “This really is a topic for another time” He can’t help but laugh as he replies “And thanks again for not freaking out”.

 

               The bluish ghoul responds with her signature sweet smile, then she hears something vibrate and pulls out her phone. She pockets it after she relays a few words into the receiver.

 

               “Looks like Uncle Igor is close. We should head to the gate” The shadow boy nods and they grab their respective bags to go on their way. Oz watches the round white sphere looming above them as he enters the car, thoughts of the werewolf flooding rapidly into his mind.

 

\---

 

                                                                                                                        _‘W-Wait! I can exp- explain!_ ’

 

                                                                                                         ‘ _No! You’ve had your chance to explain yourself. Once a freak, always a freak!’_

 

 

                                                                                                                                          _“Please! I- I can be good!”_

 

               Oz shakes awake, wide-eyed and clutching his chest, he shoots up, looking around to see if someone came into his room. He backs himself into a corner and relaxes at the sight of the white glow from his windows, illuminating everything and ensuring he’s alone. Three fearlings appear from his shoulder to pat and rub on his face, desperately getting him to calm down. He definitely can’t sleep now, he signals for them to retreat, insisting he’s fine.

 

 The shadow boy moves toward his window sill, pushes it open, and looks up the night sky, watching the stars twinkle back and forth and viewing surrounding the large celestial plate in the sky with purpose. He rests his head on the window frame and breathes deeply. He swings his legs over the other edge of his bed and grabs some scratch paper from his unfinished work and starts to sublimate onto it.

The Lighthouse

 

Over an abandoned town stood a light house

It stands on a cliff, watching the flowing waves

With it’s height it can watch over all

And look onward, eager to guide any who comes

              

However no ship, no fish nor bird

None have come to stay or just pass through

In the lighthouses’ disappointment, it snuffed its own light

Believing itself serving no purpose to any being

 

Years have passed, and the lighthouse sits on the shore

Barnacles, rust, and erosion, infecting its being

Yet still it sits patient and alone

No longer waiting for someone to guide, but to crumble into the sea

 

One night, where the waves are calm, and wind is till

Passes a shooting star, dashing through the sky

The lighthouse is suddenly filled with wonder at its beauty

The passing light shouts down toward the lighthouse

 

 “You, down there, lonely one, do you have light?

You see, my stay is short, and my visits are limited

I can only shine once in a long time, and it pains me to leave so soon

By chance, perhaps one day I can stay longer, just like you”

 

As the shooting star leaves, the waves return

They crash onto the cliff and crumble its foundation

The lighthouse feels nothing but bliss as it falls to the water

It has found its purpose.

 

               The embodiment of fear breathes out in satisfaction and lazily folds the paper and places it under his lamp as a paperweight. He slumps back down onto the bed and stares up the ceiling, his vision fading to black, and now returning to his slumber.


End file.
